It's All About The Journey

Tag: Beach

  • Becoming a Melbournian

    Becoming a Melbournian

    Welp, I feel as if i have officially transitioned from a tourist exploring Melbourne to someone who is not a full-fledged citizen, but hey I’m getting there. I’ve nearly been here for two months and i can now find my way around without using google maps (for the most part). I know the market schedule by heart and am officially starting to get into the thick of things with school work.

    Over the past couple of weeks the weather has slowly started to get cooler with a couple warm days here and there. With that came the end of the summer night market, the end of the many beach days (we still make an effort to go for sunsets though), and the end of wearing shorts every day. On the one hand, this is good because the transition to fall means I get to look more like a Melbournian because they never wear shorts! But it also means leaving behind warm weather and the fact that wearing shorts in march never gets old. So you may be wondering what have I been up to the last couple of weeks? Well, school has started to pick up and i have had an essay to work on, and other smaller assignments piling up behind that. Nevertheless, we have still been able to have some fun days exploring the city and of course making it back tot he beach for the warm days and many sunsets over the water.

    Last Thursday was one of the last very warm days. It reached 27 degrees Celsius and was sunny, so of course, that meant we had to head to the beach. This time we looked for something new and headed to a beach called port Melbourne. It was not busy at all, had softer sand than St.Kilda, and the water was just as nice (maybe a little colder). It was perfect (other than the ants) but we stayed all day and watched the sunset over the docks. It was also only a short bus ride out of the city so who knows, if another nice day presents itself maybe it’ll be time to head back there.

    The other day I went to my first AFL (Aussie Football) Game! It was new and exciting and nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. It is a mix of rugby, soccer, and football as the ball looks like a rugby ball and it is a very aggressive sport but you can also kick the ball and throw it basically like a football. Luckily I made an Aussie friend so she came with us North Americans and helped explain some of the rules. The game was very close and the team I chose to cheer for (they were the underdogs) came out on top after being down by 5 goals with 15 minutes left. Tickets were very cheap for a sports game so hopefully, I can find time to head back for another one before I leave AUS.

    A couple of days later my Birthday came and with that came warm weather as well! I turned 21 on April 2nd and celebrated it in style with friends. The day started out by going out for brunch with a friend from class because I had gotten a surprise present the day before when my Professor had canceled my only class of the day! That meant more time to sleep in and enjoy the day. After brunch, I got to rest as my friends had class then when the evening came it was time to go out for dinner. We went to the Royal Standard Hotel, a small bar/restaurant very close to our house that has cheapish food. I got chicken wings and they were very very good, other people got things such as chicken parm and pizza. They had a large menu though ranging all the way from small apps to large steaks! After dinner, I went back to our house with some friends where we hung out, had some yummy cake, and watched some horror movies (sorry Kyle and Karley). I woke up the next day to many birthday messages as back home it was officially my birthday so I can officially say this was one of the longest but best birthdays of my life.

    The past couple of days have been spent focusing on school and just hanging out with friends. We have officially passed the halfway mark for school as week 6 just passed and there may seem to be a long while to go still but i think till ass quickly. In other news the Melbourne night market comes back Wednesday, April 10th and this time is themed around European foods so that should be interesting, and in a couple of weeks reading week happens and I plan to go to Sydney and Cairns so can’t wait to get to that part of my adventure! Till next time.

  • Seeing the Sights

    These last couple of weeks have been a mess of school and exploring. With school just starting we had to go to class but in our many hours of free time we took in the sights. The first event we thought would be major was this Holi festival being thrown in St.Kilda, only a 30-minute tram ride from my house. None of us really knew what to expect other than there would be colour everywhere, we threw on some clothes we were okay with getting messy and off we went. When we arrived it was dead. There were maybe 15 other people there and that was pushing it, not what we expected at all! But we went in anyway and took in the sights, mostly having fun with the colour they provided us as we took turns spraying it at each other and having colour fights. Once this ended we were allowed to leave and return as many times as we wanted so some went to the beach. I did not partake in washing off the colours as it added some pizazz but others washed their war paint off and then headed home only after an hour of being there. A few of us stayed behind, went back and, and enjoyed the festival. As a couple of hours passed it started to fill up and before we knew it we were having colour wars with random festival goers. It was a very energetic and overall happy environment as that is what Holi is all about!

    Another sight I saw was the Royal botanical gardens where we saw lots of green plants but not many flowers. The experience was fun though as we also saw the war memorial that sits right outside the gardens and got to experience a ceremony that would usually happen on remembrance day. A beam of light passes over a block on the middle of this large marble floor and it was very interesting. Anyways back to the gardens, some took a lot of photos but i just opted to view the plant and wildlife therefor not much was captured on actual photo evidence. But we did get lost once or twice and saw a spider catch, kill, and then wrap up his dinner for later in one of his webs. Don’t worry though it wasn’t one of those huge spiders you hear about when people warn you about Australia. Just a normal sized one.

    Wednesday rolled around and of course, we had to hit the night market, a couple of us got dinner and I had this huge bowl of noodles that were miraculously floating with a pair of chopsticks in them. Who knew chopsticks could float? Anyhow, we ate some of the cool food that is very hard to find back home, got a drink, then cruised around watching the various live artists and experiencing the culture of Melbourne at night. Also side note, there is this food stall called Canadian Hotdogs…who knew that was the one special food Canada had to share? Not like we have poutine, beavertails, or anything else

    Finally, over this past weekend, the weather spiked to an all-time high. Friday, March 1st, Saturday the 2nd, and Sunday the 3rd were all 35 plus with the 2nd reaching 40 degrees Celsius. Of course, we had to spend the whole day at the beach because our house does NOT have air conditioning. So, we spent most of the day on Friday and Saturday lounging in the water at the beach as there is a shallow area perfect for sitting. I can also proudly say I managed not to get burned this weekend which is very impressive as I rarely use sunscreen back home but here even the most tanned people need it as the sun is STRONG! On Friday we spent the WHOLE day there as we got there around noon and left once the sun went down. The sunset was beautiful over the water though and it was breathtaking. While the next day we basically went there to cool off then came home a few hours later and watched a movie at a friends place who has air conditioning. Honestly, this past weekend has been great but I’ll take the 25 celsius weather back, please.

  • A place to surf…

    A place to surf…

    Libby really had only one request on the trip and that was to do some surfing. Well, better late than never, we are spending the last few days in the small surf town of Piha.

    Piha is famous for surfing. And the black sand beach, which is too hot to walk on bare foot, is a draw for surfers of all levels. Piha is only 40 km from Aukland but to get there is a slow, steep and windy drive over the mountain and when you arrive you can feel the remoteness and the isolation. But the people we met were some of the friendliest and most accommodating.

    We stayed for two nights at Piha Domain Camp, which is a two minute walk from the beach. There weren’t many stores or restaurants or places to stay at in Piha, and by 8:00 pm everything was shut down for the night. It was the perfect place to end our time in New Zealand.

    We couldn’t wait to get to the beach. It was the perfect beach day and for a Wednesday, really busy. Turns out it was a national Holiday in New Zealand. Wednesday February 6, 2019 was Waitangi Day. Waitangi Day commemorates the signing, on 6 February 1840, of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ceremonies take place at Waitangi, Northland to commemorate the signing of the treaty, which is regarded as New Zealand’s founding document. The day is observed annually and is designated a public holiday.

    We also spent part of the day looking for a surf school so that Libby could get a lesson and do a bit of surfing. For a surf town, this was more difficult to find than it should have been. We walked around for awhile and ended up at the Lion Rock Surf Shop. The resident surf instructor was away but we were given information and told to meet someone at the three surf board shaped signs outside the public washrooms on the beach at 10:00 am tomorrow morning. With those instructions, what could possibly go wrong!

    The next morning we were up early again and went to the Piha Cafe for a quick breakfast and of course another delicious cappuccino (I was getting spoiled). Then it was off, with lots of time to spare, so we could find our surf instructors. We came across someone standing beside a van and surf boards and after taking to him it seemed like he was our guy. But, as it turned out, we were in the wrong spot. No harm done, we finally realized we were in the wrong spot and he pointed us in the right direction. Even though it was now after 10:00 am we found the right surf instructors who promptly got Libby suited up and gave her a quick on land instruction then sent her after the instructor who was already at the beach with the other two students. In the water she went and she had a great time.

    A big shout out to Phil Wallace of Piha Surf School who was so friendly and helpful and to Iain ‘Ratso’ Buchanan at Lion Rock Surf Shop who gave us Phil’s contact information and arranged the lesson for Libby. I can’t thank them enough.

    Piha Cafe, great coffee.

    One of the last activities we did while in New Zealand was to hike to a waterfall, Kitekite Falls. This hike was easily walked to from our campsite in Piha and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

    Heading to the beach to watch the sunset.
    We are going to miss this place.

  • Hot Water Beach

    Hot Water Beach

    The day we visited Hobbiton was another early start day. After the tour was over there was still a lot to get to. We were on a mission to get to Hot Water Beach for low tide to experience another unique geothermal activity.

    Hot Water Beach, its name comes from underground hot springs which filter up through the sand between the high and low water tidal reaches. Within two hours either side of low tide, it is possible to dig into the sand allowing hot water to escape to the surface forming a hot water pool. The water, with a temperature as hot as 64 °C (147 °F), filters up from two underground fissures located close to each other.

    Good explanation of what causes the hot water.

    We arrived in time and after renting our shovels we made our way to the beach.

    And then we started to dig! We tried a few spots, digging a few test holes, but only found cold water. As we were scouting a new spot to try a couple leaving offered us their hole, which had hot water. We were happy to accept. Our spa hole had hot water on one side and cooler water on the other so when they mixed it was very comfortable. I spent the next few hours happily digging (the sides kept collapsing) and soaking in the hot, albeit dirty, sandy water. Libby got a little bored and wandered off to the swimming area to play in the surf.

    It was really interesting watching as people dug their holes or passed them on to newcomers. We were all amazed how hot the water was and it was funny seeing a beach full of holes, full of people.

    Hot Water Beach
    My kind of beach…

    I was sad to leave our little spa of hot water but the tide was coming in and the holes closer to the shoreline were starting to wash away, ours would soon be gone as well. So we packed up and returned our rental shovels and drove the few kilometres to our campsite. We chose an ocean front campsite in Hahei which was within walking distance of Cathedral Cove, our final destination for the day.

  • Abel Tasman National Park

    Abel Tasman National Park

    Hiking and exploring and beaching in Abel Tasman National Park is the plan for today.  We boarded the water taxi at 9:00 am for a three hour ride down and up the coast of the park.  The coastline has numerous bays and beaches that can only be reached by hiking or boating, there is no road access in the park.  

    We disembarked at noon on Apple Tree Beach and headed into the woods to the hiking trail.  The trail is 7 kilometres long but adding all the side paths we took to look-outs and beaches we walked over 12 kilometres.  And the views were incredible.

    We ate lunch on a secluded sandy beach. And Libby had a quick swim.

    After lunch we continued our walk.

    The hike was invigorating and exhausting as the sun came out and the temperatures soared.  We arrived at our pick up spot in Anchorage Bay at 3:45 and enjoyed laying on the beach for the next hour.

    Highlights of the day included the beautiful secluded beaches, especially Observation Beach where we stopped for lunch and Libby couldn’t resist a dip in the ocean.  Another highlight was seeing a pod of 300 bottlenose dolphins that swam along side the boat and played in the wake.  

    Pick up was at 5:00 pm and we headed back for showers and dinner and a beer.  

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